The initiative aims to repurpose the skills of the former coal workforce and leverage their expertise.
The US Department of Energy (DOE) announced Tuesday that it will allocate $430 million to 14 clean energy projects in former coal communities across the country. The selected companies focus on areas like the production of grid components, batteries, solar goods, and energy efficiency products, as well as recycling. The initiative is part of the Biden-Harris Administration’s Investing in America agenda, intended to strengthen domestic supply chains for clean energy technologies and bolster domestic manufacturing.
Regions in the United States with a long coal history often struggle with the progressing phase-out of the fossil fuel in favor of renewable energies. In the Appalachian region alone, more than 37,000 jobs were lost between 2011 and 2011, according to the Appalachian Regional Commission (PDF). The government plans to leverage the know-how of the workforce in these hard-hit communities to bolster the “national security while helping advance forward-facing technologies and revitalize communities across the nation,” Secretary of Energy Jennifer Granholm said. “The transition to America’s clean energy future is being shaped by communities filled with the valuable talent and experience that comes from powering our country for decades.”
Multiple other initiatives and projects aim to tackle the legacy of the coal industry in the US. An estimated 500,000 abandoned coal mines exist in the country, according to the Federal Mining Dialogue (PDF). One program seeking to give these mines a second life is IRENES, which seeks to recover critical minerals like rare earth elements from residues and other waste from coal mines in Illinois. Charles Bopp, the project’s co-principal investigator, phrased it similarly to Graham, saying that the waste of the last industrial revolution would fuel the next one.
The complete list of the 14 selected projects can be found here.
Photo: EvgenyMiroshnichenko
